NCT04721587

Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety Distraction Strategy on Office Hysteroscopy

Effectiveness of Virtual Reality as a Pain and Anxiety Distraction Strategy on Office Hysteroscopy

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 160 (actual)
• Sponsor: Fundació Institut de Recerca de l'Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Hysteroscopy is a minimally invasive endoscopic technique that allows direct visualization of the uterine cavity and constitutes the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of most intrauterine pathology, such as heavy menstrual bleeding, fibroids, endometrial polyps, uterine malformations, etc. The "see and treat" strategy allows diagnosis and treatment in the same surgical act, and gives the technique a high resolution capacity, reducing the number of procedures the patient must undergo. The technological development of instruments has made it possible to have small-caliber endoscopic systems that have made this technique possible in an outpatient setting. Outpatient management allows patients to avoid the possible risks and inconveniences associated with the surgical environment, such as the waiting list and the need for anesthesia, as well as an earlier return to their activities of daily life. Despite the high resolution rates, a not inconsiderable percentage of women experience anxiety or pain during outpatient hysteroscopy, and this is the leading cause of treatment failure. In order to improve the tolerance and comfort of the patient, the usefulness of various strategies, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, has been evaluated for pain reduction, with different results. Virtual Reality (VR) has been used successfully to reduce perceived pain in various procedures such as chronic pain, burns, dental processes, chronic pruritus or venipuncture. There is no published study to our knowledge that evaluates the usefulness of VR in reducing the levels of anxiety and pain perceived during a hysteroscopic procedure. The working hypothesis to be evaluated with this study is that the use of a VR device with reproduction of relaxing and distraction environments reduces the perception of pain and anxiety of the patient during an outpatient hysteroscopy.

Conditions

• Pain, Acute
• Anxiety

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Virtual Reality	The patients of the VR Group will be subjected to the same hysteroscopy technique as the Standard of Care Group, but additionally a VR device will be applied where a distraction VR environment ("Underwater Game") will be reproduced during the exploration

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-02-18
• Primary completion: 2023-06-30
• Completion: 2023-06-30
• First posted: 2021-01-22
• Last updated: 2023-12-20

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Spain